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Sunday fun day

Sundog seen from the base of Madonna Mountain
Upper FIS with Midway and the Village in the background

I want to give a shout-out to our grooming staff. They have been grooming many trails for our skiing and riding pleasure. Some natural snow trails like Thomke’s, Jolly Rodger, Upper Drifter, Lower Drifter, and Goat Path were done last night. Tonight they will attack more natural snow trails like Lower Pipeline and Thomke’s. Tonight they will also groom 33 snowmaking trails, like Upper FIS, Snow Snake, and Smugglers’ Alley for a grand total of 133 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Tomorrow we plan to have top-to-bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 7 lifts operating, including the Madonna I Lift. We have 43 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Surface conditions are machine-groomed and variable with average base depths of 8 to 30 inches. Currently, it is cloudy and 26 degrees at the summit of Sterling. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for a mix at the base, with snow on top and 1 to 3 inches of accumulation possible with a high of 39 degrees at the base and 33 degrees at the summit.

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More Families… more FUN!

Rockin’ Ron for Hugh. The Coadys, Hogans, Kuehls, Smarts, and Forrsets live in the same neighborhood in Toronto, Canada. For 16 years, they’ve been coming to Smuggs together – 2, 3, 4, and sometimes 5 families at a time! Can you say “It takes a Village?” Today I took some runs with representatives of 4 of the families. First, it was warm-up runs on Morse. Then we headed to the upper mountains to make turns on Upper FIS and Smugglers’ Alley, both of which were groomed. We had fun, eh.

Kevin Coady, Skyler Hogan, Sean Forrest, and Brad Smart from Toronto, Canada. From the top of the Village Lift with Madonna Mountain in the background.
Meet the new T-Bar shack. The original was damaged in a recent weather event.
Snowmaking on Morse earlier today.
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Just what the Doc ordered

This storm started off warm and wet. We received one and a half inches of cream cheese at higher elevations overnight. This morning it was raining in the Village and snowing on top. By 9:30 am it was snowing top to bottom. The new heavy wet snow will bond great with our existing deep base. It was 30 degrees at the summit of Sterling this morning and now it is 17 degrees. The colder temperature is now producing wonderful light and fluffy snow. Tonight’s forecast is calling for 8 to 12 inches of blower snow. Tomorrow’s forecast is more snow, 3 to 5 inches with a high of 16 degrees at the base and 12 degrees at higher elevations. If you were out on the mountain today make sure you dry out your gear tonight. You want to be ready for tomorrow’s powder day! Speaking of a powder day, we are going to receive quite a bit of snow overnight. It takes two grooming shifts through the night to groom all 3 mountains. Our groomers will start on Madonna Mountain and Sterling Mountain first. The corduroy that they produce will be covered with a bunch of new snow by morning. Our groomers will hit Morse Mountain later in the night. This way they can pack down as much new snow as possible. If you are looking for the freshest groomed terrain, Morse Mountain will be it tomorrow. Tomorrow we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 5 lifts operating, including the Madonna I Lift. We have 67 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Surface conditions are powder and packed powder with average base depths of 14 to 44 inches. Snowmaking operations resume tomorrow night on Lower Morse Liftline. Uphill travel on Morse Mountain will be closed this Saturday and Sunday. We also plan to make snow in the Zone this weekend.

Oliver gives Doc Dempsey’s a thumbs up with Instructor Matt McCawley
Matt and Oliver on Lower Doc’s
Village Lift Snowman
If you find this mustache, you found a stash
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It takes a Village to run a Mountain

The Crew of the Village Lift

Rockin’ Ron for Hugh. It takes a Village… and not a small one… to run a Mountain. Smugglers’ Notch Resort is the largest employer in Lamoille County. There’s on-mountain staff such as Lift Operators, Ski Instructors, Snowboard Instructors, Patrollers, Groomers, and Snowmakers. But, it’s not just on-mountain staff that keeps us running. We have housekeepers, maintenance, grounds, shuttle drivers, guest service desk staff, activities staff, wait staff, cooks, dishwashers, and more. If you want to work with the FUN people at our mountain, visit smuggs.com/jobs

On the guest front, I was talking to Matt from Orlando. He was happy that 10 inches of snow fell while his family was here. He was hoping that more trails would have been open, but he said there were more here than in Florida – HA! One of the reasons his family decided to come here is the variety of activities we offer off the slope. Enjoy the rest of your vacation in our Mountain Village, Matt.

Patroller Jason aka Nemo.
SSU Instructors at the Sterling Mountain meeting place. Say hi to Justin.
Liam aka Rocky Raccoon loading chairs at Sterling Lift.
Sarah at the controls of Sterling Lift.
SSU at the Morse meeting place.
Billy at the Sterling Top Shack. He’s also a Parking Attendant and he works at the Country Store in the non-winter months. Outside of the Resort, Billy is a Volunteer with the Bakersfield Fire Department.
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Snowmaking and grooming

Morning light over the Village
Tower gun running at the base area of the Village Lift
Grooming Lower Morse Liftline

Last night we made snow on skier’s right of Lower Morse Liftline and Meadowlark. The snowguns on Lower Morse Liftline have been shut down and our groomers are now smoothing out the snowmaking piles.

Today we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 7 lifts operating, including the Madonna I Lift. We plan to have 73 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Surface conditions are packed powder and machine groomed with average base depths of 14 to 50 inches. 30 trails have been groomed for today, including McPherson’s and Thomke’s for a grand total of 123 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Currently, it is 15 degrees at the summit of Sterling with beautiful sunny skies and winds of 0 to 5 mph. Today’s forecast is calling for sunny skies early with increasing clouds and a high of 30 degrees. There is no local race today due to the Essex High School race on Sterling today.

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It is going to be a beautiful day

Morning light over the Village

Today we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 7 lifts operating, including the Madonna I Lift. We have 53 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Surface conditions are packed powder and powder with average base depths of 14 to 50 inches. 29 trails have been groomed for today, including Playground, Wanderer, and Black Snake for a grand total of 112 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Last night we made snow on Lower Rumrunner. Currently, it is partly cloudy and -3 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 5 to 15 mph. Today’s forecast is calling for mostly sunny skies with a high of 13 degrees. Dress warm and enjoy the great conditions.

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Another sunny day

Morning light over the Village

Currently, it’s partly sunny and 35 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 15 to 25 mph. Today’s forecast is calling for mostly sunny skies with a high of 42 degrees. We plan to have skiing and riding on all 3 mountains, with 6 lifts operating: Morse Highlands, Village Lift, Sterling, Madonna II, Sir Henry’s Wonder Carpet, and Mogul Mouse’s Magic Lift to the top. We have 23  trails open with terrain for all abilities. 20 trails out of 23 trails have been groomed for today, including Smugglers’ Alley – for a grand total of 86 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Surfaces are machine groomed and variable with average base depths of 12 to 48 inches

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A sunny powder day

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Morning light over the Village

New Snow

We received 8 to 10 inches of new snow in the past 24 hours and 21 inches in the 4 days.

Lifts and Trails

We are 100 percent open with top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 6 lifts operating, including the Madonna I lift. We have all 78 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Surface conditions are powder and packed powder with average base depths of 24 to 54 inches. 38 trails have been groomed for today, including Upper Drifter, Snow Snake, and Thomke’s for  a grand total of 145 acres of freshly groomed terrain.

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Upper Morse Liftline

Weather

Current it is sunny and -7 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 5 to 10 mph. Today’s forecast is sunny skies with temperatures between 4 and 11 degrees.